If this is your first visit to the No Homers Club, be sure to check out the FAQ page. You must register as a member before you can post at the NHC; registration for new accounts is free. Got a Simpsons question? Ask it here.

Rate and Review: "Dark Knight Court" (RABF10)

March 17th, 2013: Lisa comes to her brother's defense when Bart is accused of an Easter prank involving the school marching band, the horn section and some rotten eggs. Meanwhile, Mr. Burns seizes the opportunity to realize his lifelong ambition to become a superhero. Discuss!

So far, nothing has been great or objectionable, so I'll just post random shit.

-I did get a good chuckle from the blackboard gag.
-Burns's dad has the same design from Rosebud, but with a different voice and personality.
-I don't know about you, but I found the run-on gag with Homer conducting the band pretty funny. The fireworks at the end were hysterical!

The subplot - they clearly don't know how to write for Mr. Burns anymore. The whole "superhero angle" was just an excuse for doing jokes about an old and weak man. His presence did feel a bit more ominous than recent years, but that still isn't enough.

ACT THREE:

How DARE they make a reference to the Mike Rotch joke! They took a great classic era joke and made it into a lame run-on joke featuring the dreaded why crybaby Moe Syzlak. Do they REALLY have to explain what the pun means? Any five year old child would know Mike Rotch = My Crotch. It made me wish I was watching that episode instead.

ACT FOUR:

This... I just don't have anything else to say. They could easily tell it was a smashed egg against the kilt? That easily pointed to Willie? Maybe it was somebody setting him up?

For this season, it was decent. I sort of liked the whole Fruit-Bat Man thing, and the whole court thing with Bart and Lisa was pretty meh, although I did like the call-back to the Mike Rotch prank call, as that's one of my favorites. I also kind of liked how the a-story and the b-story connected in the end, it's been a while since they've done something like that. It was nice to see Mr. Burns back in the spotlight again, but they could've done more with the whole Fruit-Bat Man thing. Also, STOP BRINGING CHALMERS IN EVERY FUCKING TIME SKINNER IS ON-SCREEN! I MEAN JESUS CHRIST!

I was only half paying attention, but I liked a lot of the jokes in this one.
Since I wasn't paying close attention, I'll reserve any comment on the story for a future rewatch
I HIGHLY doubt it was the worst of the series

What I liked:
Wiggum shooting eggs
His amusement is tantamount to culpability
FruitBatman
Mike Rotch callback
helicopter joke
Janet Reno's last line

Wow I actually ended up enjoying this much more than I was expecting. I really enjoyed both stories, and the Burns one I honestly expected to hate. They met up well at the end too. This was probably my favorite episode since Prep School. I thought Janet Reno actually got some funny lines like the Bush slam(you can never have too many as far as I'm concerned) and the billionaires line. The family laughing at Lisa's a Simpson never gives up line was great, particularly Maggie and Marge. I enjoyed Moe's testimonial and its callback and several other bits I won't mention to avoid this becoming another list review. I do get the sense that many of the jokes that worked for me will be bashed here but oh well. And of course they re-wrote Mr. Burns' history yet again but I didn't mind. I still hated that last scene with a resurrected Mrs. Glick and hoped they removed it but oh well. I'd still consider this top 5 of the season so far material and a solid 4/5, for me of course.

Oh, I laughed hard at Burns complaining about having to hold down the light at the Kwik-E-Mart, he had several one liners I enjoyed actually.

I'm, um...not really sure what to make of this. The entire Burns plot was pretty bad. It was basically a hodgepodge of "LOL Burns is weak" jokes. But it was so ridiculous that it might actually get a pass. I don't know if the writers were intentionally trying to be over-the-top ridiculous or if they just didn't realize what the fuck they were doing. The court plot was better. We actually got some good mileage out of a guest star, and it was fairly interesting, I guess. But the Mike Rotch callback...NO. Not only is this completely breaking the character of Moe with his blubbering breakdown, now he knows it's Bart? Thanks a lot. Overall...I just don't know. I gave it a 1, but I think it could be as high as a 3. This is one I'll definitely need to watch again.

Favorite and least favorite by season
1. Krusty Gets BustedThere’s No Disgrace Like Home 2. Bart Gets an FDead Putting Society 3. Homer at the BatLike Father, Like Clown 4. Brother From the Same PlanetKrusty Gets Kancelled 5. Cape FeareLady Bouvier’s Lover 6. Homer BadmanAnother Simpsons Clip Show 7. King-Size HomerLisa the Iconoclast 8. Homer’s EnemyEl Viaje Misterioso de Nuestro Jomer 9. Bart CarnyThe Trouble With Trillions 10. Thirty Minutes Over TokyoHomer Simpson in: “Kidney Trouble” 11. Guess Who’s Coming to Criticize Dinner?Hello Gutter, Hello Fadder 12. HOMЯTennis the Menace 13. Tales From the Public DomainShe of Little Faith 14. The Dad Who Knew Too LittleHelter Shelter 15. I, Annoyed Grunt)-botBart-Mangled Banner 16. A Star is TornOn a Clear Day I Can’t See My Sister 17. My Fair LaddyBonfire of the Manatees 18. The Haw-Hawed CoupleYou Kent Always Say What You Want 19. Funeral for a FiendAll About Lisa 20. Gone Maggie GoneThe Good, the Sad and the Drugly 21. The Bob Next DoorThe Color Yellow 22. Donnie FatsoLove is a Many Strangled Thing 23. The Falcon and the D’ohmanA Totally Fun Thing That Bart Will Never Do Again 24. Hardly Kirk-ingMoonshine River 25. The War of ArtWhat to Expect When Bart’s Expecting 26. Sky PoliceLet’s Go Fly a Coot 27. Halloween of HorrorLisa With an ‘S’ 28. There Will Be BudsMoho House 29. Springfield SplendorThrow Grampa From the Dane

i get it. bruce wayne is old; that is what real elderly super heroes would be like. that's a decent idea, but the way it was done wasn't funny or well considered, such that it came across as more than a little lame. i think the major factor that contributed to that impression was that they used burns instead of one of the other elderly springfieldians. i can't help but draw comparisons between the burns of two cars in every garage, three eyes on every fish and the burns of this episode. actually, i wouldn't be half upset if they used burns in a different way, like the way this plot demanded, IF it was done for a good reason. but an entire episode featuring stock standard jokes about how an elderly man would act if he was a superhero seems like a stretch. this part of the episode would be better suited for one joke. instead, the one joke was stretched over a good 10 min or so.

the other story was very dull and verged on being bad. that mike rotch scene dragged (notice they couldn't come up with a new one?), as did the bit where homer was conducting the band. incidentally, i'd like to add another entry to the list of current problems with homer: his retarded facial expressions. watch the conducting scene again. they weren't dominant but i think you'd catch my meaning if you saw it again. they're a recurring problem and janet reno? i didn't catch the end credits but couldn't they get someone a little better?

drawn out and dull. the mike rotch thing was actually a good idea. bring people that bart has offended out and show how they've been affected, almost like the seinfeld finale. instead of that, we got an entire episode out of what should have been a throwaway gag.

D (2/5)

We are trying to archive all of the noteworthy, substantial and important Simpsons related posts/threads on the NHC. This website hosts an enormous library of great observations that ought to be catalogued in a library of online criticism.If you know of any threads that fit this bill PLEASE CONTRIBUTEto the link below.

Both plots had their fair share of strengths and weaknesses. I almost wish they had each gotten their own episode (the court plot in particular could have been taken much farther with more stakes and more jokes about justice and the court system in general), but then again they tied together fairly well with each other at the end, even if it was kind of obvious how they would intersect. Gag wise, I actually liked this episode a fair bit, there were enough gags in each story that I liked, such as the band formations, the various set-ups for Mr. Burns, and even the Moe gag, which was admittedly a little too drawn out. The main plot with the court ironically was my lesser liked story. The fact that it had to split time with the subplot kept it from being as dramatic or serious as it could have been. It didn't seem like there were real stakes behind the court since we don't really know what they intend to do with Bart if he is found guilty, and there should have been bigger revelations in the court besides a basic defense has their say, then prosecution has their say. I was surprised to see that was an actual guest voice for Janet Reno, it sounded like Tress MacNeille doing a deep voice. She wasn't terrible, she just didn't need to be there, and her joke about George W. Bush was pretty lame too.

Strangely, it was the subplot with Burns made me much happier. It was admittedly kind of out-of-character for Burns to want to be a superhero, especially since we are led at first to think he's going to be a super-villain instead, and I kind of just wanted Burns to be feeble and pointless in the final climax, that might have been funnier. That said, I did find it funny to see the lengths Smithers was going through to keep his senile boss happy. It wasn't all that important until the main plot decided to let this story in, but I found it kind of enjoyable in a light and care-free way. Even the sequence after the primary credits was a lot of fun to watch, and unlike the Logorama parody from earlier this season, it funny and kind of fitting despite being pointless. I think we just have to accept that sometimes the writers will come up with sequences or gags that don't fit into the episode, so they'll stick it in where they can, usually at the end of the episode. That's a problem if it is too long or unfunny, but I thought this was funny and didn't outstay it's welcome. I can see people not liking it though.

On a completely pointless sidenote, I wonder if this subplot with Mr. Burns was in any way a response to a Make-A-Wish foundation project a few years ago where a dying boy was given a chance to save the day in a superhero costume, with his family, friends, and entire neighborhood playing along for him. I don't have all the details, so look it up if you want.

I kind of liked this episode, though it really was too flawed for me to say it was great or even good. I would give it a 3/5.